


say my name

by writerlily



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 17:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3456422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerlily/pseuds/writerlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Caitlin would have ever expected to happen was for Eddie Thawne to be throwing pebbles at her bedroom window in the middle of the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	say my name

**Author's Note:**

> this is a one shot i wrote and rewrote about a million times, it seems like. this is an au and set in high school. i hope you guys like it and feedback or comments are always appreciated :)

The last thing Caitlin would have ever expected to happen was for Eddie Thawne to be throwing pebbles at her bedroom window in the middle of the night. It's like a scene out of every romantic movie and Caitlin feels a little put out that the boy standing in her front lawn isn't the one she always daydreamed it would be.

She doesn't move from her comfortable position in her bed. In fact, she buries her head under her pillow, hoping that Eddie will just leave and that this can be something she laughs about in the morning. But then Eddie begins whispering a name, in a whisper that might as well be his normal talking, and his deep voice filters in through the small crack in her window. She rolls over onto her back and lets out a very disgruntled sigh. She has two options, really, and that's to either ignore him and stay in her bed, or actually get up and tell him to go away. 

Her conscience wins the better of her because she would really feel rude and a little bit guilty just leaving him out there. With a scowl plastered on her makeup free face, she kicks off her thin sheet and stands up. The thick hot air from earlier in the day isn't so bad right now and the cool air from outside feels good against her soft skin. She makes her way over to her window that's being assaulted by tiny rocks, pushes the window wide open, and sticks her head out.

"Hey," she yells as Eddie steps back to look at her with surprise evident on his face. Eddie is one of the most popular boys at school. Being the captain of the football team brings a certain expectation with how he presents himself. He's always dressed well with his blonde hair neatly combed to the side, but that's not how he looks right now. His hair is disheveled and the top few buttons of his shirt are unbuttoned as his cheeks are tinged pink. "Knock it off," she snaps angrily.

"You're not Iris," he says as he drops the rock in his hand. She didn't say that it was her name he was exactly calling out for. 

"Glad to see that despite being drunk, you're still able to make out the fact that I am not your girlfriend," she says sarcastically and crosses her arms over her chest when she remembers that she's wearing an embarrassing old t-shirt from a science camp she went to in middle school. 

"I'm not drunk," he says indignantly. He looks up and down her street and sighs. "All of the houses on this street look the same," he mutters and runs a hand through his messy hair. He's right about that. This neighborhood practically screams stepford wives and Iris lives a couple houses down. His eyes flick back up to her. "I'm sorry for waking you up, Caitlin."

"It's fine," she says after a moment. Some of her anger dissipates because he just looks so sad. "Are you okay, Eddie?"

"No..." he says slowly, like admitting it to her was difficult, as he rocks back on the soles of his feet. "No, I'm not."

Caitlin leans against her window frame and frowns. "Did you drive here?" 

"Well it's not like I walked here," he says like she was stupid and she narrows her eyes. Hmph. So much for being nice to him.

"You're drunk," she says flatly and shakes her head at how irresponsible of a decision he made by driving. "You could've hurt yourself, or someone else."

"I'm not drunk," he protests again and makes a show of walking in a straight line and reciting his alphabet backwards. "See?" he splays his hands out in front of him to prove his point.

"Then why do you look so terrible?" she asks bluntly.

"Thank you for your compliment," he says in that same sarcastic voice and Caitlin rolls her eyes. "You're as lovely as ever."

"Okay, well, now that you know you're not at Iris' house, why don't you make your way over there so I can get back to sleep?"

"Because I am now realizing how stupid that would be of me," he says more to himself than her. He sighs tiredly and pinches the bridge of his nose. That would be pretty stupid, considering Iris' father is a policeman. "I haven't been sleeping well," he says honestly, finally answering her previous question. He doesn't look at her as he speaks. His eyes are focused on the suddenly interesting ground. "On top of football, filling out college applications, and Iris..." he trails off and looks into the street with a distant expression. 

Caitlin chews on the corner of her lip before deciding on something. "I can't let you drive home in your condition," she says. "You might fall asleep at the wheel. Do you want to come in for a little while?" His eyes flick to hers and he stares at her, before softly nodding. "Go to the front door. I'll be there in a minute."

Caitlin shuts her window closed and locks it. She picks up her sweater from her desk and shrugs it on as she makes her way downstairs. She momentarily stops by a mirror hanging in the hallway to check if she has eye boogers or dried drool on her chin. Feeling sure that she doesn't look like a troll that's just been awoken from its slumber, she shuffles over to her front door and unlocks it to allow Eddie in. 

He gives her a small smile as he enters her house. "Thanks," he says quietly and stands awkwardly to the side as she closes the door. He looks odd in her house. Out of place. "Are your parents home?"

"No, they're at a conference this weekend in Atlanta," she shakes her head as she motions for him to follow her into the kitchen. "You can sit down," she points to the stools by the island as she takes some things out. She places down a cup, milk, and chocolate down onto the counter.

"What's that for?" he raises a curious brow as he takes a seat and rests his arms on the counter.

Caitlin pulls out a small silver pot and places it on the oven with the flame on low. "When I was little and I couldn't sleep, my dad would make me some hot chocolate," she says with a fond smile on her face as she pours milk into the pot. "Of course my mom always objected because she thought I shouldn't have sweets before bed, but it did always make me feel better," she glances up at him. "You look like you could use it."

Eddie stays quiet as he watches her stir the milk in the pot. A few minutes later she adds the cocoa powder and the rich smell of chocolate fills the kitchen. The silence isn't awkward, but it's still so strange to actually have Eddie Thawne in her house. Caitlin shuts the stove off and takes a ladle to pour some of the hot chocolate into a mug that has a picture of the Nasa symbol on the side. 

She slides it over to him and he looks grateful as his large hands wrap arond the mug. "Thank you for this," he says as he blows the hot drink.

"Of course," she waves a hand dismissively as she pulls a stool out on her side to sit down on. She places her elbow onto the counter and rests her chin in her hand. 

"Have you sent in your college applications?" he asks before taking a careful sip. 

She nods. "I got them done a while ago," she says as she taps her fingers along the marble counter. "I applied mostly out of state."

"Me too," he says softly as he looks down into his cup with a brooding expression. "I was planning on staying local because of Iris, but..."

"Eddie," she says slowly to get his attention and he looks up to meet her eyes. "Did you and Iris break up?"

Eddie shifts uncomfortably in his seat and looks down at his hands as he twiddles his fingers. "We're going in different directions anyway," he says, indirectly answering her question. No wonder he looks so miserable. "What about you?"

Caitlin furrows her brows. "What about me?" she asks. He's clearly changing the topic and she'll allow it right now because he looks like he could use a distraction.

"Are you and what's his name still dating?" he says as he taps a finger along his chin. "Cisco?"

Caitlin looks horrified as she shakes her head. "Goodness, no," she laughs awkwardly and rubs a hand on the back of her neck. "He's practically my brother." 

"Oh. Right. Sorry," he says and takes another sip of his drink. "I just see you guys together on campus a lot."

"He's my best friend," she explains with a shrug of her shoulder. She flicks a glance at the clock, noting how late it is. She's thankful that her parents aren't here. They wouldn't have let her having a boy over at this late of an hour slide. "Kind of my only friend," she admits quietly.

"I haven't been a very good friend to you," he says in a low voice. That confuses Caitlin and she's about to ask him what he means, but he cuts her off. "We've known each other since kindergarten Caitlin," he says in a plain voice. "I just... I don't think I was as good a person during school as I should've been."

"We're young," she tries explaining. "We don't exactly know who we are yet, so some mistakes are going to be made along the way, but at least you're learning from yours."

"Did you read that off of a motivational poster?" the corners of his lips slightly quirk upwards and Caitlin feels some satisfaction that she got him to smile, as little as it was.

"Why, did it make you feel better?"

"Kind of."

Caitlin snorts. "I just don't think you should be so hard on yourself."

Eddie eyes her for a moment. "Do you still like Barry Allen?" he suddenly asks.

The question throws her so off guard that she tenses her body. "What?" she asks in a high pitched voice. She clears her throat and looks away at the wooden cabinets. "No. I don't know what you're talking about."

Now it's Eddie's turn to snort at her. "Remember in middle school when we sat next to each other in science class," he says and Caitlin nods her head. He used to always try to cheat off of her homework. "Barry sat a few seats ahead of us and I remember you always used to stare at the back of his head. I even remember you scribbling his name a few times into your notebook."

"Shut up," she crosses her arms defensively. "I totally did not," she scratches her nose, feeling ridiculously embarrassed, as Eddie looks at her with amusement. "Leave me alone," she says flatly.

"You should go for it," he says encouragingly. His positive attitude about this kind of surprises her. If she just went through a breakup she probably wouldn't be telling others to get in relationships and follow their hearts. Or whatever. "I know he thinks you're cute."

Caitlin narrows her eyes at him. "How do you know that?"

"Locker talk," he smirks and taps a finger on his mug. "He's on the track team and they have practice the same time as football," he explains because of the questioning look on her face. "Anyway, why didn't you ever go for it? You obviously still have some feelings for him."

Caitlin scoffs. "I do not."

"Yes you do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"You are annoying, did you know that?" she snaps at the irritatingly smug look on his face. 

"Come on Snow," he says. "We're having such a nice heart to heart here."

Caitlin looks at him suspiciously. "You are sworn to secrecy."

"Promise," he says as he traces a cross on his heart with his fingers then leans back onto the counter.

"I do still like him," she says in this small voice, because she hasn't really spoken to anyone about the feelings she has for Barry, and this is kind of awkward for her. Cisco knows, because of course he does, but it's not like they stay up late, painting each others nails, and gossiping about the boy she likes. "But I think it's just one of those situations where I'll always have a soft spot for him, but he's not the one I'll end up with later in life."

"You never know," Eddie tells her and Caitlin tries to shrugs indifferently, to show that it doesn't really matter to her even though it does.

"Only time will tell," she says and mentally cringes at how cheesy that was. She sounded like a chinese fortune cookie. A moment of silence passes between them as Eddie continues to take small sips of his drink. "What's going on with you?" she asks him softly.

"You are sworn to secrecy," he mimics her earlier words and she smiles. 

"Promise," she says as she copies his earlier movements with her fingers making a cross over her chest.

"I always thought Iris and I would last through all of this bullshit," Eddie says in a sad voice that sounds so different from the confident and arrogant way he usually carries himself at school. Late night talks with a side of heartbreak always do that to people. "My mom told me that a lot of high school couples never make it through senior year because that's the time they want to be free," he sighs heavily. "I just didn't think that would apply to Iris and I."

"I'm sorry," she says softly. He really does look miserable and she reaches out to take her hand in his. She squeezes once to let him know that she's there for him and a ghost of a smile comes to his lip as she puts her hand back in her lap.

"You don't have to say anything," he tells her and points to her lip. "I see you chewing your lip like you're trying to figure out something to say," she immediately stops her nervous habit. "It just feels nice talking to someone who's actually listening."

"Are you feeling a little better at least?" she asks him and he nods.

"Do you mind if I crash here for the night though?" he asks and Caitlin raises a brow. He sees her face and he scrunches his face. "Not like that," he sneers at her. He's a ray of sunshine, isn't he? "Just on the couch. You're right. I'm way too tired to drive home."

Caitlin chews on her lip. Now she's really thankful that her parents aren't home tonight. She hops off of her stool and takes his half empty mug and places it in the sink. 

"I'll get you a couple blankets," she says as she walks out of the kitchen and upstairs. All while Eddie follows behind her, looking almost like a lost little kid. His breakup with Iris has really hurt him. "You can sleep on the couch up here," she says as she turns the lights on. She opens a hallway cabinet and pulls out a fluffy blanket for him to use. "The one downstairs is itchy."

He's quiet as he takes the blanket from her and takes a seat on the dark blue couch that slightly dips down from his weight. It doesn't seem like he wants to talk anymore so she dims the lights down and tells him goodnight before walking to her room.

"Thank you," he says so softly that she almost didn't hear him. She stops walking and spares him a glance over her shoulder. "For all of this. I really appreciate it."

"Goodnight Eddie," is all she says as she disappears back down the hallway and into her room. She closes her door that shuts with a soft click and leans against the wall. What an odd night.

In the morning, Eddie is gone. The blanket he was using is folded neatly and resting on the coffee table in front of the couch. His cup in the kitchen sink is washed and in the dish rack and there's no sign of his car on the street. 

At school on Monday she passes Eddie in the hall and they don't keep walking like they used to. He stops and gives her a small smile as he winks at her. He's obviously back to being his overly arrogant and charming self so she rolls her eyes as she smiles and waves back to him. She supposes it's not too late for them to start an actual friendship as he walks up to her at her locker and asks if she'll make it to the football game on friday night.

When Eddie leaves, she spots Barry at his locker with a pen in his mouth and his back pack slung on one arm. He looks so handsome in his plaid red shirt and khaki pants and her heart does that weird little flutter. She briefly thinks about the small conversation she had with Eddie. Maybe one day in the future she'll meet up with Barry again and she'll have the courage then to ask him out for coffee. And maybe one day he'll be the boy throwing pebbles at her window late in the night, calling her name.


End file.
